1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure concerns a centrifugal debris separator, and/or a fuel supply apparatus, and/or a fuel system debris separator, and/or a method of separating debris from a fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gas turbine engines are typically employed to power aircraft. A gas turbine engine comprises various stages of rotor blades and a combustor. Typically, a gas turbine engine would have at least one compressor rotor stage, and at least one turbine rotor stage, with the combustor located between the compressor and the turbine.
Typically, fuel is supplied to the gas turbine engine from storage tanks on the aircraft. However particulates and/or contaminants can exist in the fuel tanks and these can be carried by the fuel into the fuel system. The fuel itself can contain its own particulates and/or contaminants and due to the wide range of environmental conditions in which an aircraft operates the particles/contaminants may include ice. In general particles/contaminants may be referred to as debris. Debris can have density greater or less than the density of the fuel. It is desirable to remove debris from the fuel at least because debris can block parts of the fuel system, for example a heat exchanger matrix.
Conventional aircraft fuel systems may contain filters to remove debris but a pressure drop is associated with each filter. It is desirable to remove a range of debris from a fuel system whilst minimising the pressure losses associated with debris removal.